“When you declare war, you aim for victory,” notes CNN analyst Aaron David Miller. One might think that Miller meant that as a comment about Hamas, which actually launched an invasion against Israel, but only if you’ve never watched the American media at work.

No, Miller aimed his comments at the invaded party, and declared that the “real problem” would be the Israeli response to the war launched against it:

On CNN, former State Department official Aaron David Miller is worried about what Israeli retaliation might look like and fears Biden's "emotional" support for Israel:
"What exactly do the Israelis hope to achieve?…Where does this go? That's the real problem." pic.twitter.com/aI7QSEbtmp

— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 7, 2023

First off, Miller inverts the situation by starting with Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration of war. That only came after Gaza under Hamas launched a war against Israel. It’s as if we started discussing World War II by starting with FDR’s “a date which will live in infamy” speech. It’s an absurd form of victim-blaming that attempts to put all the moral freight on the attacked rather than the attackers.

It gets worse from there. “Where’s the strategy to ensure this isn’t a brutal and horrific rinse-wash-repeat cycle?” Miller also wonders. “Because that’s what it’s proven to be over the last several decades.” That’s certainly true since 2005, when Israel withdrew from Gaza and its population elected Hamas as their government in their one and only election. And that “rinse-wash-repeat cycle” has had Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad launching missiles at Israel constantly over the last 18 years and occasionally infiltrating for small-scale terror attacks.

Hamas, however, has decided to dispense with that rinse-wash-repeat cycle by launching an invasive war against Israel. I hate to explain this to a media “expert,” but that is the real problem. Miller’s handwringing over how hard Israel might hit back is also a rinse-wash-repeat cycle of Jew-blaming that has been a feature for far too long in Western circles, especially the American Left. Israel didn’t start this war, and shame on Miller and CNN for pretending they did, while Hamas troops invade Israel’s communities, slaughtering and kidnaping civilians in a terror war that the Gazans launched.

The Gazans. They elected Hamas leadership. They have done nothing but support Hamas ever since. This is their war, and they will reap the consequences for it.

The real problem for Israel is whether they can fight this to the end even while allies wring their hands over the supposed need for proportionality. If they want to end the rinse-wash-repeat cycle, the Israelis need to treat this like an actual war. That means to fight it with all of the forces and capability they have until their enemy is defeated, its leadership destroyed, and its land captured or its population capitulates under new and benign leadership. That is the only way to fight a war, and the only way to protect your sovereignty and population. Period.

Addendum: Jeff Dunetz will be adding updates to what’s happening in Hamas’ war on Israel as events progress. Start here and keep checking back.